The present invention relates to a method for producing dental restoration elements.
A method for producing dental restoration elements has long been known, as shown, for example, in DE-OS 36 21 952, which shows a practice model for simulating the placement of dental restoration elements.
It is further conventionally known to use so-called drill guides as an aid for planning the location or disposition of implants which will ultimately be placed in the patient""s mouth. With regard to the anchoring of the implants in the jaw mass, it is critical that sufficient jaw mass is available. In this connection, drill holes for the anchoring or fastening of the implants must be created at the proper locations on the jaw.
On the other hand, each displacement or shifting of a drill hole axis results in a displacement of the position of the implant, so that the impact of such a displacement on the upper and lower teeth alignment must be assessed. Sometimes, the decision on where to locate the drill holes which will receive the implants must be further revised if it transpires that, at a particular location, too little jaw mass is available, in which event the location of the drill hole must be changed. As the dentist or the dental technician has heretofore himself or herself prepared the teeth to be secured in the patient""s mouth, it is possible, in such an event, to undertake a modification or a revision in order to improve the jaw and teeth alignment situation.
In connection with performing, via an x-ray confirmation, a quality control of the installation of a dental restoration element, the dental technician mixes into the polymerizable material mixture of the dental restoration element a contrast medium for the x-rays, whereby the position of the dental structure is visible in an x-ray of the patient""s mouth. By the use of a drill guide process, it is ensured that the dentist, by examining such an x-ray, can plan or forecast the position of the dental restoration element in the mouth of the patient before fixing the locations of the drill holes in the jaw.
This method requires, however, a substantial effort and requires that the work be undertaken with great precision in order to avoid the occurrence of misalignments during the establishment of the drill axes. The drill guide most typically includes a top surface on which the freshly prepared, x-ray opaque teeth structures can be secured by adhesion. If the individually formed teeth are not then placed by the dental technician very precisely at the proper angle, there occurs an angle misalignment, in that the teeth, which are subsequently secured via adhesive securement to the base plate, are secured such that the drill axes are oriented with a corresponding angle misalignment. The dentist can, to be sure, rectify or improve this situation in that the dentist can place the drill axes somewhat at an angle or inclination. This, however, requires considerable skill and experience, which are likewise demanded in connection with the production of dental teeth by hand, whereby, at most, only a dental-like, non-exact structure is produced.
The present invention offers a solution to the challenge of providing a method for producing dental restoration elements having implants, which, at the same time, permits cost savings to be realized and the precision of the dental restoration element installation process to be increased.
The method of the present invention permits surprisingly simple substances to be used to optimize the position of implants. By the use of industrial pre-prepared teeth which are, at the same time, x-ray opaque, the necessity to perform follow-on or revision work is substantially reduced. The precision and reproducibility are substantially greater than is found in connection with teeth which are individually formed by a dental technician, so that, from the inception of the process onward, the teeth can be placed in a functional manner in the mouth of the patient. Also, the undersides of the industrially prepared teeth have true angles and are planar so that misalignment or out-of-alignment tipping is effectively foreclosed. The necessity to displace the teeth after their disposition in the mouth of the patient in order to compensate for angle misalignment is, in this regard, clearly reduced. The drill guide can serve, in accordance with the method of the present invention, in a conventional role as a guide for the drill holes so that the dentist is in the position to form the drill holes in the jawbone and accommodate the dental restoration elements to the particular configuration of the patient""s mouth.
It is particularly advantageous that the configurations and fixed securement of industrially produced teeth are better than those teeth individually formed by a dental technician through a mixing and finishing process. In this connection, closely adjacent drill holes can be realized as well without creating the danger that the teeth will break. An additional perspective is that the exact contour of the tooth as shown in the x-ray can be achieved by the use of industrially pre-prepared teeth. Due to the improved production of such teeth, a greater portion of an x-ray contrast substance such as, for example, barium sulfate, can be used, whereby the contour of the teeth is substantially more visible.
Further advantages, details, and features are set forth in the hereinafter following description of an embodiment of the method of the present invention.